Jane Austen’s six most-famous novels, summed up in 10 words each
Novels in a nutshell.


Sense and Sensibility (1811)
Girl falls for a cad, stands in rain, gets cold, almost dies. Her sister doesn’t say much.
Best quote: ‘Know your own happiness. You want for nothing but patience–or give it a more fascinating name, call it hope ’
Pride and Prejudice (1813)
Feisty girl dislikes sexy, proud man. There’s lots of tense dancing.
Best quote: ‘It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife’
Mansfield Park (1814)
Boring heroine pines after even more boring hero.
Best quote: ‘A large income is the best recipe for happiness I ever heard of ’
Emma (1815)
Matchmaking is tricky when your best friend is in love—with every man she meets.
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Best quote: ‘If I loved you less, I might be able to talk about it more’
Northanger Abbey (1817)
Country girl thinks that men who live in big, scary abbeys must be murderers.
Best quote: ‘The person, be it gentleman or lady, who has not pleasure in a good novel, must be intolerably stupid ’
Persuasion (1817)
Woman turns down poor man’s proposal. Eight years later, he’s rich. Game on.
Best quote: ‘I hate to hear you talk about all women as if they were fine ladies instead of rational creatures. None of us want to be in calm waters all our lives ’
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